Shloka 26
अरण्यवृत्ति-वैराग्योपदेशः | Forest Discipline and the Program of Non-Attachment
नाकल्याणं न कल्याणं चिन्तयन्नुभयोस्तयो: । न तो जीवनका अभिनन्दन करूँगा, न मृत्युसे द्वेष। यदि एक मनुष्य मेरी एक बाँहको बसूलेसे काटता हो और दूसरा दूसरी बाँहको चन्दनमिश्रित जलसे सींचता हो तो न पहलेका अमंगल सोचूँगा और न दूसरेकी मंगल-कामना करूँगा। उन दोनोंके प्रति समान भाव रखूँगा ।।
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
nākalyāṇaṃ na kalyāṇaṃ cintayann ubhayos tayoḥ |
na to jīvanakaṃ abhinandanaṃ karūṅgā, na mṛtyuse dveṣa |
yadi eka manuṣya merī eka bāṃhako basūlese kāṭatā ho aura dūsarā dūsrī bāṃhako candanamiśrita jalase sīñcatā ho to na pahlekā amaṅgala socūṅgā na dūsre kī maṅgala-kāmanā karūṅgā |
un donoṃ ke prati samāna bhāva rakhūṅgā ||
yāḥ kāścid jīvatā śakyāḥ kartum abhyudayakriyāḥ |
sarvās tāḥ samabhityajya nimeṣādivyavasthitaḥ, jīvita puruṣa ke dvārā jo koī bhī abhyudayakārī karma kiye jā sakte haiṃ, un sabkā parityāga karke kevala śarīra-nirvāha ke liye palakoṃ ke kholane-mīṃcane yā khāne-pīne ādi ke kārya meṃ hī pravṛtta ho sakūṅgā |
Yudhiṣṭhira dit : «À l’égard de ces deux hommes, je ne ruminerai ni le malheur ni ne désirerai le bonheur. Je ne me réjouirai pas de la vie et je ne haïrai pas la mort. Si l’un me tranchait un bras à la hache et si l’autre baignait mon autre bras d’une eau mêlée au parfum du santal, je ne souhaiterais ni malchance au premier ni prospérité au second ; envers tous deux je garderais une même disposition. Et quels que soient les actes d’élévation mondaine qu’un homme vivant puisse accomplir—les abandonnant tous—je demeurerais appliqué seulement au strict entretien du corps, occupé à peine du battement des paupières et du manger et du boire.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches samatva—steady equanimity toward harm and benefit, praise and blame, life and death. Yudhiṣṭhira describes a mind that does not cling to favorable treatment nor react with hostility to injury, and that can even relinquish worldly ‘advancement’ activities, remaining focused only on minimal bodily upkeep.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and right conduct after the war, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates an extreme ideal of detachment: even if two people treat him in opposite ways—one violently, one kindly—he would respond with the same inner attitude, and he could abandon all pursuits of prosperity to live with the barest necessities.